Relying solely on megaprojects to shift the paradigm of development in the Maldives is an unsustainable tactic that does little to improve conditions for individual households and residents, says former president Mohamed Nasheed.  

Nasheed said this while speaking at an event held under his ongoing campaign bid for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s primary elections. The former president, who is living in self-exile, spoke to supporters through a video call.

In his address, Nasheed had criticized some of the tactics used in ongoing large-scale government projects, particularly towards those that are more detrimental to the environment.

“How are we to deny our very nature? Development through megaprojects clearly is unsuitable to the Maldives and to Maldivians. We should let our resources and environment dictate our strategies for development” Nasheed said.

Nasheed, who has been sentenced to a jail term of 13 years, said that the failure of current developmental tactics, that he denounced as simply 'nearly all reclamation and destruction', has been proven.

Nasheed’s campaign bid has been met with contentious scrutiny from the government, in contradiction to cautionary advice from the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Most recently, the Elections Commission threatened to dissolve the Maldivian Democratic Party if they allow Nasheed to contest the primary.